242 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



no other place big enough to hold us all in rural communities 

 today?" 



If a man can go into the church house on week days and 

 hear there discussed things pertaining to the farm and go back 

 home and grow better live stock (for there is an influence coming 

 from good live stock that we cannot get from any other source), 

 grow good fruit, to feed his boys and girls on (I believe the man 

 who will grow good live stock on his farm and good fruit to feed 

 his boys and girls on will not grow boys and girls that will want 

 to go to war and go to the penitentiary), grow better corn, follow 

 a better system of crop rotation, build a better home, turn out 

 from his home better boys and better girls, to become better 

 men and better women, better citizens — I claim that man has 

 served the Lord just as much as the man who stands in the pulpit. 



Wherever I have held meetings in country churches a local 

 organization has been perfected. Farmers' clubs are being 

 organized all over the State. 



Some of the oldest farmers' clubs for the betterment of 

 country life are in Monroe county. The north side agricultural 

 class at Paris has been in existence since 1911. This class was 

 organized after a meeting called by Miss Eugenia Schmitt, a 

 country school teacher, living at the time a few miles north of 

 Paris. She concluded that a farmers' organization or a com- 

 munity organization would result in much good. With this in 

 mind she called her neighbors over telephone saying that there 

 would be a farmers' meeting at her father's home that evening. 

 At this meeting an agricultural class was organized. This class 

 met every Saturday night of every week at Miss Schmitt's home, 

 as I understand, and heard a series of lectures given by Mr. 

 Emmett O'Neal, a graduate of the College of Agriculture of 

 Missouri. At these sessions talks were given by men who lived 

 in the community and had made a success of some particular 

 thing. Occasionally they had a lecture by a man from some 

 department of the University. This kind of work continued 

 for about six months, at which time an organization with officers 

 consisting of a president and secretary-treasurer was perfected. 

 Meetings were held once a week. At each meeting one lecture 

 was given and followed by a general discussion. This work 

 continued until about October 1, 1913, when each member 

 bought a book on agriculture and began a regular study, using 

 the questions furnished in the text. Quoting a member of the 

 club, "The people in the community are paying more attention 



